


Be better, for me.  Zebruh x Reader

by Milkywayhell



Category: Hiveswap, Homestuck
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, Hiveswap: Friendsim, Slow Burn, Troll Call (Hiveswap)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-21
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2019-08-27 01:50:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16693111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Milkywayhell/pseuds/Milkywayhell
Summary: This is my first fic ever so bear with me.Zebruh Codakk is objectively the WORST person you've ever met. Yet somehow you keep getting roped into hanging out with him, and eventually he starts to grow on you... well... the idea of him being redeemed does at least...





	1. ♡Zebby♡

**Author's Note:**

> Hahha, Zebruh fucking sucks.

Waking up in a ditch wasn’t exactly a new experience for me, being a lowblood and all. Today was fairly average actually, the night before I attended a lowblood protest rally that was quickly dismantled by a group of casteist bluebloods, no one was killed, but plenty of people were brutalized, and after a thorough beating I woke up in a gutter with my copper coloured blood caked to my face and hair.

I groaned as I sat up, and stretched a little bit, everything felt sore from my waist up, but luckily nothing was broken. When I went to move my legs however, I winced in pain. My right ankle hurt too much to move and was definitely sprained. 

I sat for a moment, and looked around frantically, but it seemed like I was the only one who was ditched in this ditch. My cellphone was busted as well, so the only option I really had was to wait and hope someone would come by and help. 

So I waited…

And waited……

And waited…………

Finally, after probably 4 hours of waiting and hoping someone would come by, I heard footsteps and the soft sound of whistling on the path above the ditch. 

I sat up again, and scrambled onto my knees as carefully as I could to avoid messing up my ankle even more.  
“Hey! Hey is someone up there?!” I called up. 

The whistling and footsteps stopped, “Is… someone there?” 

“I’m in the ditch, could I get some help? I think my ankle is sprained, and I’m stuck down here.” 

The person on the path walked over and looked down into the ditch, “Oh, wow.” 

I waved a bit to him, “Yeah I’m… kinda a mess right now, I had a long night hahha…”

He smiled, “That’s okay, here, can you reach my hand?” he reached down into the ditch. I reached up, and just barely managed to grab his hand. He pulled me up, and helped me stand on my one good foot. 

“Jeeze, thanks a ton, I don’t even remember how I got here hah.” I sighed, “I hope this isn’t too much of a bother, but could you walk me home?” 

“Sure! I’d be more than happy to.” 

“God thank you.” 

With that he let me put my arm around his shoulders, and he put his arm around my waist, and I limped towards home with his help.

“So…” he started, “♡ What’s a cute little bronze-blood doing all the way out here?♡”

I sighed a bit, “I was at this lowblood protest with some friends, and it kinda got torn down by a bunch of jackass bluebloods,” I winced a bit, my foot had hit the ground, “Ugh… They’re always so mean you know?” 

“Well… I’m sure not all bluebloods are like that.” It sounded as if he scoffed, “I’m one you know.” 

I blushed with embarrassment, “Oh! Jeeze I’m sorry, I didn’t realize-" 

“♤It’s fine, just don’t go around making assumptions, ok?♤” He smiled down at me, and tightened his grip on my side. 

“R-right, sorry again.” I said quietly, “We're getting pretty close to the town I live in, thanks for walking all this way with me, I know it’s kinda out of the way.” 

“It’s alright, it’s a nice walk,” He said, “I love little rundown places like this, most bluebloods wouldn’t be caught dead in a gutterblood part of town, but I think they’re great.” 

“Hah, yeah…” I gave him a side eye glance, before clearing my throat, and nudging him a bit, “My apartment is down this street.” 

He nodded and we turned down the last stretch of our walk. When we arrived at the steps of my apartment building, he let go of me. 

“Do you need my help getting up to your room?” 

I thought for a second, on one hand this guy was giving off bad vibes, but on the other hand I lived on the fourth floor and the elevator was busted. 

“I uh… yeah,” I finally sighed, “Sorry if this is an inconvenience hahha…” 

“It’s okay, I know girls like you try really hard to be independent, but it’s okay to get help sometimes.” 

I balked at his statement, and shook my head slightly, “Yeah… Anyways, I live up on the fourth floor, we have to take the stairs since the elevator isn’t working.” 

“No problem.” He grabbed my side again, and I slung my arm around him. We slowly made our way up the stairs, and to my room. 

“Hahha, here we are! Thanks so much for the help, I really appreciate it.” I said sincerely. 

“♡ Of course, anything for such a sweet gal, ♡” he winked, “It was nice to meet you, uh…” 

I tilted my head in confusion, before I perked up and laughed, “Oh! Jeeze I never told you my name! I’m Maynya Gorgex. Most people just call me May though.” 

“♡ Mayna is such a lovely name, it really suits you, ♡” he grabbed my hand and shook it, “I’m Zebruh Codakk.” He kept holding my hand after he stopped shaking it.

“Uh, it’s Maynya actu-"

“Hey, if you wanna hang out sometime when your foot is feeling better, you can give me a call. I really liked walking with you.” He still hadn’t let go of my hand, and I could feel his grip tighten just a little bit. 

I sighed and gave him a slightly nervous smile, “Yeah! That’d be really fun, but my phone is kinda broken and I don’t know when I’ll be able to get a new one, otherwise I would totally call for a hangout…” this was partially true, my phone was broken, and I had no clue when I’d get a new one, but calling him would probably not happen any time soon after. 

“Well that’s fine, I can get you a new one,” he grinned, “I’ll swing by tomorrow with it, alright?” 

“U-uh well, you don’t-" 

“I know I don’t have to help you, but I want to, you seem so nice, so just keep being nice and let me get you a gift.” 

I blinked at his sudden hostility, and pulled my hand away from him finally, “O-okay! I’ll see you tomorrow then! Thanks a ton for helping me out Zebruh.” I spoke quickly and slipped into my room, shutting the door behind me without letting him get another word in. 

I heard him sigh and walk away from the door, and I took a breath. The first thing I did was hop to my shower to get all the blood off of me. Afterwards I hopped over to my couch and sat down. I had no way to contact anyone for the time being, so I sat and watched the TV until I fell asleep. 

I woke up the next morning to a knock at my door. I grumbled as I got up and hopped over to the door, as I was expecting it to be Zebruh. Instead I was greeted by a friend of mine who also attended the protest. 

“Heeeyyyy!! I’ve been calling you all day, oh ehm geeeeee, I thought you were dead!!” She barged into my room, and I winced slightly. “Oh damn sis, are you good??” 

“Yeah I’m alright, I just sprained my ankle yesterday and woke up in a ditch.” I smiled, and shut the door, “And my phone got totalled so I didn’t know you’ve been calling me.” 

“Damn gurrl!! How’d you get home?? Don't tell me you hopped all the way here alone!!” She helped me get back to the couch where I fell back and layed down. 

“I wasn’t alone, don’t worry. This guy helped me out of the ditch I was in and walked me here.” 

“Oh yea?? Spill the tea sis!!” 

I smiled and laughed, and let my head roll back while I talked, “God, he was just some Blueblood dude, I guess his heart was in the right place, but him helping me seemed kinda forced.” 

“Jeeezzzeeeee, a Blueblood?? That's great that he didn’t try and like, kill you or anything. Ooohhh was he cute tho??” 

“I mean like… I guess? His hair was kinda long but it looked clean and kinda soft actually, but his teeth were super jacked up, like, jeeze the guy could use them as a can opener or something… He dressed kinda fancy too, like, people don’t just wear a vest and bowtie while they’re out and about yeah?” 

“Lolllll, he sounds fun, was he stuck up or what gurrl??”

“Nah, he was… nice I guess. Once again it seemed forced.” I said with a laugh. 

“Yeah?? What’d he do??” 

“Ugh he was just like, trying to be progressive way too hard and in the wrong ways, and then he got super pushy about getting me a new cellphone as a gift for being nice.” 

“Guuuurrrrrrllllllll use himmmm,” She laughed, “He could be your sorta casteist sugar-lusus.” 

“No way!! That’s too mean, he was at least like, trying to be nice, and I’m not gonna be a jerk like that.” 

She sighed with a smile, “Ugh fineeeeee, are you still getting a new phone outta him??” 

“Yeah… I dunno when he’s gonna come by, but he was pretty adamant about getting me one.” 

“Okayyyyeeee, well, I gotta go anyways, gimme a call when you can okie?? Kisses!!” She waved as she left my apartment. 

“See yah!” I waved back, “I’ll call you as soon as I can.” 

When she left, I was alone again. I turned the TV off, and got up to get something to eat. 

My apartment wasn’t very big, it had enough room for a fridge, a couch, a TV, and a small dining table, but not much else. It was cozy though, and I didn’t spend a lot of time there anyways, since I was usually out with my friends. 

I grabbed a drink from the fridge when someone knocked on my door again. 

“One sec!” I called out, and hopped over to the door again, this time I knew it was Zebruh. I readied a smile and opened the door. 

My smile was quickly replaced with a look of surprise. It was Zebruh at the door, but he was carrying a couple takeout boxes with him. 

“♡ Hey you! ♡” he said with a big bright smile, “I grabbed us some lunch to share, I figured you might have wanted something, since you had such a long day yesterday.” 

“Oh, th-thanks, actually… That’s really sweet of you.” I smiled genuinely this time. “Uh why don’t you… come in?” 

He smiled and strode into my apartment, setting down the takeout on my table. “Your apartment is really cute Mayna, it’s super minimalist.” 

“Oh uh, Zebruh, it’s uh…” 

“I know its not actually minimalist, but there’s only so much someone can do with such a small space, yknow?” 

“Y-yeah, that’s not it though, you’re actu-" 

“I hope you like what I got us for lunch, it’s one of my favor-" 

“Zebruh!” I interrupted him, “My name isn’t Mayna!” 

He stood and stared at me for a second, before giving me a confused look, “What?” 

“It’s Maynya. You didn’t let me correct you yesterday,” I said as I hopped over to him, “Sorry to snap at you but-" 

“You should be sorry, don’t you know it’s rude to interrupt people? Especially after I brought you lunch.” he scoffed, “Well, I’m sorry Maynya. Can we have our lunch now?” 

I huffed, and sat down at the table, “Sure, what’d you bring?” 

He opened the boxes, and the most delicious smell wafted out of them, “I can’t remember how to pronounce the name, but it’s really good, I promise.” 

My mouth watered a bit, and I grabbed a fork, and stabbed it into a piece of the meal “It looks really good…” I took a bite, “Mmmmm, oh my god this is amazing!” 

“See? Told you.” He smiled and took a bite as well. 

After a while, out or quiet meal was gone, and the two of us were perfectly full. 

“Thanks so much for the food Zebruh, it was really good, probably the best thing I’ve eaten in forever!” I said, sitting back and resting in the chair. 

“It’s the least I could do, but now,” he reached into his pocket, and pulled out a shiny new phone, “Lets get to the real gift.” 

Compared to my old phone, the new one he gave me was simply amazing. It was big, sleek, and didn’t have a scratch or crack in it anywhere. 

“Oh, wow, Zebruh, you really shouldn’t have.” I carefully took it from him, and turned it around in my hands, “Jeeze, it’s gorgeous.” 

“Why don't you turn it on and see what I set up for you?” he suggested, a smile creeping onto his face.  
I did so, and looked through its apps, “Heheh, you have pretty good taste in games and stuff, what else did you put on here?”

“Check your contacts list.” He rested his elbows on the table and held his head in his hands as he watched me maneuver through the phone. When I checked the contacts list, there was only one number registered, under the name “♡Zebby♡”. 

“Oh-" 

“Cute huh? You can change it if you want, but I thought it was kind of cute.” He smiled up at me, “But it’s your phone now! So do whatever you want with it.” 

I smiled a bit at him, before turning it off, and setting it down, “I really appreciate it Zebruh, It’s a super sweet gift.” 

He nodded and smiled, “I thought you’d like it, it’s one of the pricier phones out there, but it’ll work amazingly and it’s super hard to break, so it’s perfect for you.” He then stood up, “Well, I’m gonna head out now, it was nice seeing you again, I hope you get better soon, I can’t wait to hear from you again.” 

“Yeah… I’ll… I’ll be sure to give you a call as soon as I’m feeling better.” I smiled at him as he got up to leave, “See you around Zeb.” 

“♡ Zeb? I think that’s an even cuter nickname than the one I set in your phone. ♡” he said softly as he stepped out the door, and shut it behind him. 

I sighed when the door shut, and picked the phone up again. I went through and deleted some of the apps that I knew I wouldn’t use, and a few of the games he put on it. I also changed his name from ♡Zebby♡ to just Zeb.

His heart was definitely in the right place… but man was he a weirdo.


	2. I just wanted a bag of chips dude.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zebruh takes you on a date!   
> You don't want to go!   
> But social obligation (And fear) is a bitch!  
> :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I fucking lied I guess, enjoy chapter 2 ♡♡♡

Days had flown by, while I was stuck at home. A few of my friends would stop by occasionally with food and snacks for me, but for the most part I was stuck there alone, minus the daily couple buzzes from my phone. 

Sometimes they were texts from friends, telling me they were coming over, but usually it was Zebruh texting me early in the day to tell me good morning, or ask me how I was. I didn’t hate it, and the two of us would text back and forth for a few minutes at max. It was nice to have some company. 

 

Zeb: ☆♡☆♡☆ Good morning, Maynya baby!! ☆♡☆♡☆

Maynya: Moooorning, what’s up?

Zeb: Same old same old, how’s your foot?

Maynya: Still really sore, I’m starting to walk on it a bit though

Zeb: That’s great! I’m glad to hear you’re doing better :) 

Maynya: Yahh

 

I got up from my couch, and limped over to the fridge to get a snack, but to my disappointment, it was almost completely empty. 

“Well shit…” I mumbled to myself, as I texted a few of my other friends to see if they could bring me food today. All of them said no, they were either busy, or didn’t have any spare cash. 

I sighed heavily and looked through my phone list to see if there was anyone who might not be busy and would have extra cash on them.

Zebruh. Of course. He should have cash out the ass since he's a blueblood.

 

Maynya: Hey uh, Zeb?

Zeb: ♡ Did I tell you how much I love that nickname? ♡ 

Zeb: And yes Maynya? What’s up?

Maynya: I’m kinda out of food right now and none of my other friends are able to bring me anything.

Maynya: Do you think you could stop by with something? It doesn’t have to be fancy

Zeb: ♡ I’ll be on my way, just sit tight. ♡ 

Maynya: God thanks Zeb, I owe you one 

Zeb: ♡ Anything for you~ ♡

 

I set my phone down and rolled my eyes, he put hearts around everything as if the two of us were matesprites. I cringed a little bit, but tried not to think too hard about it. He was nice but he wasn’t quite my type. 

My stomach growled while I waited, and I tried to hold myself over until Zebruh got here, by eating some of the miniscule leftovers I had. I could only hope he’d get here soon. 

About an hour passed, Zebruh still wasn’t here, and I hadn’t heard from him since I texted him last. I layed on the couch and tried to ignore how hungry I was, by flicking through TV channels, of course I just had to accidentally stop on a cooking show. I groaned turned off the TV, and rolled onto my side. I felt like I was going to die, of course I wouldn’t, it would just be one day without food, which is fine, I’ve done it before. 

There was a knock on my door, “Maayynnyyaaa! Sorry I took so long, can you get the door sweetheart?” Finally Zebruh was here, I let out a sigh of relief, and got up. 

“Yeah, one sec!” I hobbled over to the door and opened it for him, “Hey- Oh.” 

In his arms were several grocery bags, all filled to the top with all sort of snacks and drinks, “I wanted to get you plenty so that you’re stocked up for a while.”

“Th-thanks Zeb, wow,” I stepped aside and he came in to set everything down, “I really appreciate all this, but you really didn’t have to-"

“I know, I know, but I just want to make sure you’re fed and taken care of,” He said with a smile, “◇ After all, what are friends for? ◇” 

I smiled at him a bit, “Yeah, I guess.” 

He sauntered over to me, with a smile still plastered on his face, and grabbed my hands, “Today however, I’m going to use that ‘I owe you’, and take you out somewhere nice.” 

I looked up at him with a nervous smile, “U-uh, Zeb, my foot is still hurt, I can’t really walk on it much y-"

“You’ll be fine, ♡ I just really want to take you out today, ♡” He insisted, “I promise it will be fun.” 

“Zebruh, I really cant-" 

His expression changed from a happy smile to a disappointed frown, “C’mon, after all I’ve done for you, doesn’t my kindness mean anything to you? I’ve taken so much time out of my day to bring you all this food, and you can’t even be bothered to just let me take you out for one day!” As he spoke his grip on my hands slowly tightened, almost to the point of being uncomfortable. 

I stood there at stared at him with a look of confusion, and tried to loosen his grip to no avail. “I- uh, Y-yknow what, okay, sure, let’s go out. I-I just need to get cleaned up a bit so… just… sit on the couch and wait a sec okay?” I smiled nervously, and hoped he'd let go of my hands. 

Which he did, as his smile slowly melted back onto his face, “Oh, I promise you won’t regret this, put on something nice,♡ I’m taking you somewhere fancy. ♡” 

I scampered off into the bathroom, and locked the door behind me. I took a deep breath and sighed. I realized I left my phone out on the couch, and cursed to myself, I guess there wasn’t a getting out of this. 

I grabbed one of my nicer shirts off of my clothes shelf, and a comfy pair of shorts. I didn’t really have anything “fancy" so I hoped this would be good enough for where we were going. I quickly brushed my hair, and brushed my teeth. I didn’t bother putting on makeup or doing anything special with my hair, and I stepped out of the bathroom. 

Zebruh was sitting patiently on the couch, absentmindedly looking through his phone. When I stepped out and cleaned my throat a bit, he perked up and looked at me. 

“Oh wow,” he smiled brightly, “♡ That’s such a cute outfit! ♡” he quickly lifted his phone and took a picture. 

I blushed with embarrassment, “Uh, yeah, thanks… it’s the nicest one I have so-" 

“You look just like this singer I like! ◇ And she’s a bronze blood, just like you. ◇” 

“Y-yeah? Who is it, I might know them.” 

“Chixie Roixmr, she’s this upcoming lowblood star, she has a self titled album that I listen to all the time.” He grinned, “I’ve also met her personally, I think the two of you would get along great.” 

“Chixie? I don’t think I’ve heard of her actually, what’s her music like?” I asked. 

“It’s really good, it has sort of a twangy sound to it, I’ll let you borrow the album, you’ll like it.” 

“Mkay, thanks.” I smiled, “So uh… where are we going?” 

“You’ll see, I made reservations at this really high class restaurant, usually only cerulean bloods or higher are allowed in, but I convinced the people there to let me bring you in.” 

I stared blankly at him, “Wh-what? Isn’t that kinda dangerous??” 

He waved me off, “I’ll be fine, I paid all the waiters and greeters off so there will be no repercussions for the two of us, everyone likes money, yknow?” 

“I meant for me, Zebruh, I could get killed.” I gave him a worried look, that he also waved off. 

“You’ll be fine. Let’s go okay? I don’t want to be late, I did pay a lot for these reservations after all.” 

I pursed my lips and nodded, “R-right, let’s… yeah, lets go.” I grabbed my phone and went to get the door, but before I could grab the handle, Zebruh was already up behind me, reaching around to get it himself. 

“♡ Ladies first, I’ll hold the door for you ♡.” He winked at me, and opened the door. I passed by him and stepped out. He shut the door behind him, then led the way out of the apartment. I followed behind him with a slight limp. My foot still hurt, but it wasn’t as bad as the previous few days. I’d just have to grin and bear it. 

When we finally left the building, he slowed down slightly so he was walking next to me. He stuck out his elbow, “Here, I’ll help keep you steady.” 

I reluctantly linked arms with him and huffed slightly, “Thanks…” It did help me put less weight on my foot, so I tried to calm my nerves a bit. Though the two of us walking down the street with our arms linked made it seem like we were in a relationship of some kind. Frankly, I didn’t consider the two of us to be close enough to even be moirails. 

We walked for a ways without seeing anyone else out on the streets, it was in the late afternoon so most people were either working, or busy doing other things. 

It wasn’t an unpleasant walk, up until we ran into a group of my friends. 

“Oh no…” 

“OH EHM GEE!! Maynya what are you doing out here?? And who’s this handsome hunk??” my friend called out and waved to me. I waved back as she got closer. 

“Oh, this is Zebr-"

“My name’s Zebruh Codakk, it’s so nice to meet you! Are you girls friends of Maynya’s?” he spoke over me, and reached out with his free hand to greet them.

“Yah!! You must be that Blueblood that helped May the other day right?? I’m Kiyana,” she reached out and shook his hand, “and this is Bernie and Sioban,” The other two shook his hand as well, “It’s so cool to meet the guy who saved our friend!!” 

“It’s really nice too meet you all as well,” he smiled, “I’ve heard a bit about you guys from Maynya,♡ you seem like lovely ladies. ♡” 

“AWWWEEE, I’m so glad May has been talking us up, omg!!” She bounced happily, “So where are you two heading off to?? Are y’all like, a thang or what??” 

I blushed, “Kiyana… Me and him are just friends, not even moirails.” I spoke quietly. 

Zebruh smiled and laughed a bit, “The two of us are heading to a fancy restaurant just outside of Outglut,♤ I’m sure you three probably haven’t heard of it. ♤” 

Kiyana thought for a second, “Well… Ohhhhhh waaaaiiiittt!! You mean that super exclusive place that only serves highbloods yeah?? Awe man, Maynya you’re s lucky!!” 

“Hahah, yeah I guess I am, Zebruh kinda bribed the place to let me in, so its… gonna be something.” 

“Our reservation is soon, so we should keep heading over there, it was nice meeting you three!” Zebruh grinned, and walked past them, pulling me along with him. 

“Yah!! It was nice meeting you too!!” She waved, and the three of them went off on their way. 

The two of us continued on our way, Zebruh smiled and walked with a sort of bouncy gait, while I limped on beside him. 

We reached the outskirts of Outglut, and he slowed down a bit, “You doing alright? How’s your foot feeling?”

I nodded my head slightly, “Its… feeling okay, I guess I just needed to walk a bit. Are we almost there?” 

“Mhm! Just a little farther babe,” he said, “◇ You’re so strong, being able to keep up with me ◇, I promise were almost there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! The actual date will be in the next chapter.   
> Which might be posted soon, idk, I already fucked up my weekly schedule *big shrug*   
> Anyways, thanks again for reading.
> 
> Don't forget to leave some kudos ;D


	3. Can I PLEASE get a bag of chips dude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zebruh takes you on a date!   
> It sucks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for reading this dumbass fic of mine, and an extra special thanks to y'all leaving kudos on my work!   
> I know Zebruh isn't... the best... but I have hope for him lol

We finally arrived at the restaurant, “Pas Mal". I stared in awe as we got closer, the entrance was extravagant, there were fountains, and shrubbery cut to look like various lusii. There were also strings of lights draped along the shrubs. From what I could see inside, there were more lights illuminating the dining area. I could hear faint music as well.

“Amazing isn’t it? You must be glad I decided to take you here huh?” Zebruh remarked. 

“Yeah, its… spectacular actually,” I said, still staring in awe, “It’s so pretty.” 

He pulled me along, and we approached the entrance. We were greeted by a kind looking troll in a fancy vest, “Hello, welcome to ‘Pas Mal' do you have a reservation?” 

Zebruh spoke up, “Yes, it’s under Codakk and Gorgex, we're the special reservation with the private booth.” 

The greater gave him a look, and then looked at me with a scowl, “Right this way…” he led us into the restaurant, and to a booth by a gigantic window, looking out towards Outglut. 

We sat down, and picked up the menu, but before I could actually open it, Zebruh held it shut. 

“Can I order for the two of us? I have something special in mind that I want you to try,” He smiled at me from across the table. 

I hesitated for a moment, but nodded, “Eh...” 

He grinned, and sat back in the booth, he rested his arm on the table and flicked at his napkin.

“♡ Have I told you how lovely you look tonight? ♡” he asked, “Because you look divine, especially with the lights here bouncing around your eyes.” 

I blushed bright orange and smiled, “Jeeze, thanks. You look nice tonight too.” 

He had a dreamy look in his eyes, and he leaned forward, “♡ Y’know, seeing you looking around all star stuck like that earlier made me really fall for you, you’re so nice and pretty, you deserve to be taken out all the time, and treated like royalty. ♡” 

I smiled at him, my face getting warmer and probably more orange, “T-that’s sweet of you Zeb, really.” 

I looked out the window and sighed, letting myself relax slightly. Stars illuminated the sky, and street lights and windows brightened the town off in the distance. It was a lovely night, and I tried to not focus on the less than favourable person I was spending it with. 

He spoke up again after a few long moments of silence, “♡ Maynya, it’d make me really really happy if you would be my mate-" 

Then the waiter strode up to the table, “Hello, I’m your host for tonight, my name is Fettaa, can I interest you two in some drinks to start with?” 

Zebruh looked dejected when the waiter interrupted him, but I wasn’t paying very much attention to him anyways. 

“Ooh, yeah can I get-" I started.  
And Zebruh interrupted me, “Actually, we're ready to order. Can we get two house specials and some cocktails?” 

The waiter nodded, “Yes of course, I’ll have them out in just a minute, for now here’s some waters.” He set two glasses down on the table and filled them with ice water, then stepped away from the table. 

I watched him walk away, and stop and a couple more tables. A few of the other patrons gestured towards our booth, to which the waiter simply nodded and moved on, and I began to feel extremely uneasy. 

I grabbed my glass and took a sip, it didn’t taste like it was tampered with, so I continued drinking it. Zebruh was looking around casually, then turned back to me. I was noticeably tense, and kept my eyes trained on the table. 

“Hey,” he spoke softly at me, “You’re fine okay? I’m not gonna let anyone bother us here. ◇Not that you need me to keep you safe, a strong lowblood girl like you would be just fine on her own ◇. Relax.” 

I looked up at him and flashed a half-smile, then looked back out the window. I took a deep breath and nodded, “I'll… try…” 

A few minutes of silence passed, before Zebruh spoke up again, “♡ So, Maynya, like I was saying earlier, I think you’re really great, and I’d love if you would consider being my ma-" 

“Hey folks, sorry about the wait. Here’s your meal, and your drinks.” The waiter came out of nowhere and set our plates down in front of us.

Zebruh huffed, and quickly thanked the waiter. He grabbed his drink after the waiter slinked away again.  
“How fucking rude, interrupting me twice like that…” he muttered after taking a sip. 

“He is just doing his job, I doubt he knew he was interrupting you, Zeb.” I grabbed for my fork, and took a bite of the dish. It tasted pretty good, it wasn’t the best but it was definitely not bad. 

He calmed down after I had called him Zeb, and smiled at me, “I suppose…So babe, what do you think of the food?” 

“It’s not bad. I think that the stuff you brought over the other day in the takeout box was… kinda better actually.” I said, flashing him a smile. I reached for my drink and took a sip from it. It was very alcoholic, but tasted sweet still, I took a larger sip of it and set it down, “God, these are super though, I might have a few of these.”

He laughed a bit, and started eating. 

By the time we had finished our plates, we had both drank three of the cocktail drinks. We were talking rather loudly and enjoying ourselves. The conversation had derailed, and we started talking about meaningless topics. How was yesterday, do you work anywhere, what’s your lusus like, just typical boring stuff. 

Our waiter came over with more drinks. “Can I interest the two of you in a dessert?”

“Ohhh my god yes please!” I slurred out, “A lava cake would be absolutely dope.” 

“I’ll take one as well please.” Zebruh said with a smile and wave. 

The waiter nodded, and walked away, he briefly stopped by another table nearby, and then came back.  
“Uhm, I’m sorry, but the table over there asked me specifically to tell you to ‘keep your gutterblood pail-toy quiet,’ or they’ll ask the manager to throw you both out. Uh, terribly sorry.” He stammered and looked fairly nervous while looking over at Zebruh.

I had clamped my mouth shut, and looked over at the couple that had complained. It was a pair of wealthy looking cerulean bloods who seemed to be out on a date. I mouthed “Sorry!” to them, hoping they would just glare and move on. Instead, one flipped me off and the other yelled “Gutterblood!” from across the room. 

Zebruh glared at them, and stood up after they had shouted the casteist slur. The waiter didn’t bother to try and stop him, because he looked absolutely livid. I sat and watched him walk over to the table where the cerulean bloods sat. He slammed his hands down on their table, and started absolutely laying into the two of them. 

“I don’t appreciate your blatant intolerance of my date and I, there’s plenty of other folks here being just as loud if not louder than the two of us. Gutterblood is a slur and you two should be ashamed of sinking as low as to try and oppress us while we’re out minding our own business,” He shouted at the two of them, drawing attention from other tables, and other waiters. 

“Uh, sir, you’re making a scene, please go back to your table, we'll get this all sorted out-" our waiter tried to calm him down, but Zebruh just ignored him. 

“If I wanted to, I could buy this whole establishment and make it so cerulean bloods like you wouldn’t be allowed in, so check your privilege, and keep that in mind if you have anything smart to say, and I want you both to apologize to my friend,” he hissed at the two of them, then called me over. 

I shakily stood up, and approached the table. As I walked I could feel all the eyes of everyone else in the restaurant staring holes through me. I couldn’t feel the pain in my foot, but I still walked awkwardly and slowly. Copper coloured tears pricked the corners of my eyes as I stood next to Zebruh. The two cerulean bloods glared daggers at me as I stood shaking in front of them. 

Zebruh put his arm around me, and huffed at the two seated trolls, who scoffed, and sarcastically said “Sorry" to me. I wanted to apologize as well, but Zebruh spoke up before I could. 

“I’m not moving until you two apologize and mean it. I could get you thrown out of here with a snap of my fingers, I’m higher up on the hemospectrum than you both.” He lorded over the two of them.

They eventually gave me a slightly more sincere apology. It wasn’t better by much, but it seemed to be sufficient to Zebruh, who turned on his heel, and went back to the table. I followed closely behind him, still a shaking mess. I could hear a few of the other patrons mutter amongst themselves. 

“That guy is such a freak for bringing a gutterblood here.” 

“I know, doesn’t he have any self respect?” 

“She ought to be culled, we can’t have them start thinking that lowbloods can get away with things like this.”

“Don’t bother calling any drones, a dumb girl like her will get culled soon enough anyways.” 

“Maybe we should just kill them ourselves.” 

As Zebruh went to sit down, I grabbed his arm, and gave him a pleading look as a few tears rolled down my face, “Let's just… Leave. Okay?” 

He looked up at me blankly for a moment, “Why?” 

“Wh… Why?! Jeeze, Zebruh I don’t feel safe here,” I spoke in barely a whisper, “Lets just go, and do something else, please, I just don’t want to be here anymore.” 

I wiped my eyes with the sleeve of my shirt, and tightened my grip on his arm, “Zeb, please.” 

He sighed and gave me a side eyed glance, “♤ Fine, if you insist. ♤” 

Zebruh stood up and grabbed his wallet from his pocket, leaving more than enough money to pay for our meal and drinks, and led me out of the establishment. I walked shakily beside him, keeping my head down and stared at the floor. 

When we were far enough away from the building, I stopped and let go of his arm. I fell down onto my knees, and cried into my hands, and I continued to shake and sniffle for several minutes after I stopped crying. Zebruh stood next to me the whole time, and didn’t say a word until I calmed down. 

“Maynya… I’m… Sorry… w-why don’t we go somewhere else and get some dessert? I know this great place over in-" 

“No.” 

He stopped, “No?” 

“I… I don’t w-want… I’m not going s-somewhere you know… This was t-too much…” I stammered out between coughs and sniffles. 

“But-" 

“No!” my head snapped up so I could glare at him, “If we're going anywhere else, it’s where I want to go.” 

My glare faltered and turned into a plead, and he frowned at me for a moment before looking away, and sticking his hands in his pockets. 

“Okay… where do you want to go then?” he said softly. 

I slowly got up. When I put pressure on my bad foot, I winced and fell forward a bit. Luckily Zebruh caught me, and helped steady me. 

“I know a nice place in town… they serve ice cream.” I smiled weakly at him, and we started our way back into Outglut. 

I told him which way we were going, but we walked in silence otherwise until we got there. It was still open, and there were only a few other people there. He held the door for me as I hopped in. I checked my pockets to see how much money I had on me, and it was barely enough to get one for each of us. 

I picked out my favorite flavor, and then looked at him.

“Still trying to decide?” 

“Yeah… I don’t eat a lot of ice cream so… I don’t know what’s good, really.” 

“Hm… well, this is my favorite, try it and tell me what you think.” I handed him my cone of delicious frost treat, and he tasted it. His face contorted a bit, and he stuck his tongue out.

“Pfft, not good huh?” I laughed. 

“It’s really bad, ugh, how do you manage to eat that??” 

I took the cone back from him, and took a bite of it, “Hmm, I dunno. Maybe it’s a blood colour thing,” I giggled, “Here, try this one, it’s my least favorite so maybe you’ll like it.” 

He was reluctant at first to try any more, but eventually he caved, and bought a cone of it. He tasted just a little bit, and his eyes widened, he then took a huge bite out of it and hummed in delight. 

“That good huh?” 

He nodded as he ate more, and I laughed at him. 

“C’mon, I know lots of small shops that I think you’ll like.”

I hopped over to the door, careful to not put too much pressure on my foot, and held it open for him. He stepped out, with his ice cream cone practically gone already.

I grabbed his arm to steady myself, and led him through town. The few places that were still open were just small convenience stores, and oddball shops, and I took him into each one so we could browse. 

One of the stores we went into was a jewelry store, that had handmade necklaces and rings strewn about on handers and in display cases. The troll who owned the place looked tired, but tried to be as lively as possible when we stepped in. 

“Hello hello! I’m Chroll, take a look around and tell me if anything catches your eye!” 

I let go of Zebruh's arm and wandered through the store until a pair of very pretty necklaces piqued my interest. 

“Ooh, Chroll, what’s this one?” 

“Those are pewter pendants I made myself, it’s for matesprites to get for each other. You can set gemstones that match the others blood colour in them, and you can wear ‘em around and have a piece of your matesprit with you always.” 

“Awe, that’s pretty cute!” 

“Mhm, I’ll sell em to you and your flushed crush ‘ere for half price if ya want, you two seem pretty cute together,” he smiled at me and Zebruh. 

I blushed bright orange, “O-oh, no we aren’t matesprites actually, we're just friends,” I stammered out, and waved my hands a bit. 

Zebruh simply laughed a bit to himself, and continued looking around the store. 

After a while of not finding anything else we liked, we left. I yawned, and stretched my arms above my head, and Zebruh took it as an “I wanna go home" signal. So the two of us walked back to my apartment, and he helped me up the stairs again. We stopped outside my rooms door, and I thanked him for taking me out to hang out. 

“Well of course. It was kinda a waste of a reservation since we didn’t really get to finish our meal, though…” he sighed, “Oh well I guess.” 

“Hah… yeah… oh well.” I shuffled on my feet and looked down at the floor for a second, but he spoke up again. 

“I… had a nice time going to all those stores with you. It was a nice change of pace,” he gave me a sincere smile, “ ♡ I’d love to go out like this again. ♡”

“Hahha… maybe when my foot is all the way healed ok?” I smiled weakly, “And maybe next time we could just… go somewhere where you don’t have to bribe the place to let me in?” 

He nodded, “Yeah, maybe.” 

As I turned to step into my apartment, Zebruh grabbed my wrist and pulled me back to him, and tried to pull me into a kiss. 

I yanked my hand away from him, and pushed him away from me with just a little too much force, he fell backwards and landed on his ass. 

“Wh- What the fuck?!” I squeaked at him. 

He looked up at me and quickly got up to his feet, “Well I was trying to give you a kiss goodbye, why’d you push me!?” 

“Wh-?? Because I don’t want to kiss you, dumbass??” I took a step back as he got up. He didn’t take a step towards me however, but stayed rooted in place, glaring at me. 

“Really?? After all I did for you today?? I paid for a whole dinner, and for all the drinks you had, and I walked you all around your crummy gutterblood town, and I don’t get anything out of it??” 

I balked for a moment, then snarled at him, “Listen Zebruh, I didn’t want to go out in the first place! God all I asked you for was a couple things to eat, you did this whole dinner bullshit on your own accord!” 

“And aren’t you thankful I did? I took you out somewhere nice, better than you could ever go on your own, and I can’t even get a thanks for it?” 

I stared at him, and then shook my head, “Listen man, you can’t play the fucking victim here. You put me in danger, and I had a shitty time there, you don’t know what’s it’s like to be thrown somewhere like a slab of meat around a ton of angry hell-beasts, that’s fucked up.” 

He huffed, “God, you’re a real bitch you know that? Friendzoning me after I show you the time of your life. Forget it, I’m leaving,” he began walking off down the hall. I simply stood and watched him leave in silence. When he was out of eyeshot, I went into my apartment and slammed the door behind me. 

I flopped down onto my couch and layed there for a while in the dark. 

I was stewing over his douchebaggery from the past few times we hung out, and started coming up with a very nastily worded text that I wanted to send to him. But after a while it hit me, we weren’t matesprites, hell we weren’t even in a quadrant, I didn’t owe him anything. So I dropped it, and tried to fall asleep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look forward to the next chapter probably in a couple days! Leave some kudos and comment maybe :3c


	4. Chixie? Chixie.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don't really have a summary for this part, Zeb comes by and gives ya chocolates, then you hit a club.

The next morning I woke up to my phone ringing. I answered it without checking the number, and sighed into the receiver, “Hello? This is Maynya speaking.” 

“Oh thank God you finally picked up. Listen I’m so sorry about yesterday, I shouldn’t have blown up at you like that, I was just mad about what happened at the restaurant, I think you’re great and you didn’t deserve me yelling in your face like that.” 

Zebruh.

I groaned and tried to wake up more, “Wh… yeah, I didn’t deserve you yelling at me, I didn’t do anything wrong.” 

He didn’t say anything for a second, but then sighed, “Okay, I’ll acknowledge that. You didn’t do anything wrong. It was the jerks at the restaurant, the ceruleans who started being rude to you.” 

“… Zebruh-" 

“Listen, I’m really sorry. It won’t happen again, I swear. Can we hang out again when your foot is better? I’ll cook you dinner at my hive, and it’ll just be the two of us, okay?” 

I sighed into the receiver again, “We'll see. I’m like, half asleep right now, so just… call me tomorrow or something okay?” 

“Okay.” 

“Goodbye Zebruh.” 

“Bye May, I’ll talk to you tomorrow, I hope you feel be-" 

I hung up the phone and let my head fall back onto my pillow. 

I woke up again on my own accord, rolling off of the couch and falling onto the floor, where I layed for a few minutes more, before sitting up and checking my phone. 

I had 11 new texts and 3 missed calls. All of which were from Zebruh before I answered him. 

 

Zeb: Hey  
Zeb: Hey Maynya? You up?  
Zeb: I guess you’re not  
Zeb: I’m sorry  
Zeb: I didn’t mean to call you a bitch I’m sorry  
Zeb: I really like you and I wanted to treat you to a nice dinner, I’m sorry everything went to poorly  
Zeb: Next time let’s go somewhere you like, like that ice cream place  
Zeb: You up yet? I’m gonna call you, I want to apologize   
Zeb: Hey you didn’t pick up so I’m guessing you’re still asleep, I’ll try again later  
Zeb: Are you still not up? I’ll just try again later  
Zeb: ♡☆♡☆♡ Im gonna try one more time, and I’ll leave you alone if you aren’t up ♡☆♡☆♡

 

I groaned and set my phone down. I got up and limped over to the pile of groceries that were left out overnight. Nothing seemed to have spoiled or melted, so I just started putting things away while I tried to wake up. At the bottom of one of the bags, there was a box of granola bars, so I opened it and ate a few of those for a late breakfast. 

When everything was cleaned up, and I was fed, I said down at the table. Last night was… awful. But it seemed like I accidentally roped myself into hanging out with him again… somehow… And at his hive no less.

I massaged my foot a little bit, in reality I had no idea what to do with a sprained ankle. But it seemed like it was almost healed up, so Zebruh would be begging to hang out again soon… I wasn’t going to purposefully break my ankle to get out of hanging out with him, so I knew I’d just have to grin and bear it… again…

With a huff, I got up to go shower, so I could go back to bed without feeling absolutely disgusting. 

 

I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing yet again. I groggily answered it with a “Hnnmm? Maynya speaking…” 

“GURRRLLL I JUST SAW YO MAN!!” Kiyana practically screamed into the receiver, “He was walkin towards yur apartment with a big ol box of chocolates, damn gurrl, how great was your date the other day??” 

“It… wasn’t a date, he just wanted to take me out somewhere as friends.” I mumbled to her as I rubbed my face. I couldn’t bear to tell her about what happened, because I knew she’d end up tracking him down to rip his arms off. 

“Mhmmm, that’s called a date honey,” I could feel her roll her eyes through the phone, “Whatevs, either way, your boy-toy is on his way so look presentable ig, you sleepy hoe.” 

“Love you too Kiyana, kisses.” 

“Kisses!!” 

I hung up and sat up. I told him to call me, not come over… 

I brushed my teeth and brushed my hair a bit, if he was coming over I didn’t want to look like a total slob. Right as I flopped back onto the couch, he knocked on my door. Great. 

When I answered it, I had a blank and tired expression on my face, and I greeted him with a very flat, “Hey.” 

He smiled brightly and presented the box of chocolates to me, “Maynya I wanted to apologize in person for last night, I’m so sorry about everything that ha-" 

“Zebruh do you even know what happened?” I asked bluntly. 

His smile faltered for a moment, but returned quickly, “Y-yeah, those ceruleans ruined our dinner, and-"

“No… Zebruh… you ruined our dinner,” I said with a soft sigh.

“Wh- B-but I-" 

“Listen Zeb,” I said sharply, “you put me in danger, and didn’t listen to me until I yelled at you after breaking down on the sidewalk. And then you blew up in my face because I didn’t want to kiss you. You ruined our dinner and my day.” 

He stood there and stared at me, then his gaze dropped to the floor, and he sighed. 

“I’m sorry…” 

“Are you really? Because out of all the times you said sorry to me and did anything about your behaviour was when I corrected you on my name, and even then you were an ass about it,” I folded my arms and sighed, “Listen Zeb, if you want to be friends at all then you need to treat me better, and you need to live up to your actions.” 

He nodded and lifted his head a little to took at me, “Okay, I’ll… try and be better to you.” 

“Thank you.” 

“… I brought you chocolates…” he lifted the box up again, and this time I took it. 

“Thank you Zeb.”

“… ♡ I still love when you call me that. ♡” he smiled a bit at me, and I smiled back. 

“I know. I’m gonna go lay down, my foot still isn’t healed so just… gimme a few more days okay?” 

“Alright.” He stuck his hands in his pockets and turned to leave, “Bye Maynya.” 

“See yah.” 

I shut the door and hobbled back over to the couch. I really just couldn’t bring myself to be mean to him and tell him to leave me alone. He seemed… like he had potential to be a really neat person. But his bluebloodedness got in the way of it. 

I sighed and looked at the box he had given me. 32 assorted chocolates, perfect for Flushed Affirmation Day. On top of it there was a small card, that read, “Maynya, I’m so sorry” surrounded in crudely drawn hearts, some of which with arrows through them. I couldn’t help but smile a little, it was a sweet gesture after all.

I set the box aside and layed down. I was still extremely tired from the night before, but I had been sleeping so much the last few days that it seemed wrong to fall asleep again. But I did. 

 

A few more days went by, and I hadn’t heard from Zebruh at all, no good morning texts, and no random calls. It was sorta lonely, but I didn’t let it bother me too much. My foot was totally pain free, and I could finally walk, run, and jump again. 

I called Kiyana and asked if there was going to be another protest soon, and she told me no.

“A lotta people who went didn’t get off as lucky as you boo, like, ppl had their arms n legs broken!!”

“Jeeze, yeah I guess I am pretty lucky…” 

“Yahh, so we’re gonna hold out until more people are better, I don’t want ppl who can’t walk to get caught up in a drone raid yknow??” 

“Yeah… ugh… oh well, I’ll talk to you later Kiyana.” 

“Kisses!!”

“Kisses.” 

I felt stuck at home for the most part today. It was raining, and there wasn’t much to do anyways. I decided to break into the box of chocolates that Zebruh had given me, some of the flavours sounded really good and I could tell they were expensive. 

32 chocolates and a few drinks later I was comatose on the couch again. When I awoke, it was almost dark out. 

I decided I shouldn’t stay inside and sleep even more, it wasn’t healthy, and the cabin fever was starting to get to me. 

I cleaned myself up and headed out the door with my umbrella in hand, it was raining harder than earlier, but it wasn’t too bad. I made my way through the streets trying to find something to do, not a lot of stores were open sadly. 

I eventually came across a slightly rundown nightclub. Admission was cheap, so I decided to check it out. Inside, there was a decent amount of trolls just mulling around, or sitting at tables and chatting. The stage was empty and the curtains were closed, but it seemed like a show was going to start soon. 

I bought a drink for myself, and found a table. I got comfortable and relished in the fact that no one decided to sit next to me. 

The lights dimmed, and people quieted down. As the curtains drew back, a young troll girl stepped up to center stage, a few of what I assumed were her fans cheered for her, while most people just clapped. 

When she started singing, I was entranced. Her voice filled the venue with a melodic twang, and I couldn’t help but tap my foot to the beat. When the song ended, she waved happily to the crowd and took a bow. I cheered for her, and clapped loudly.

She stepped off stage and the curtains closed.

As the shows went on, not a single one held a light to the first girl's spectacular performance, so I grew bored after the fourth act. I finished my drink and stepped out of the club, luckily it had stopped raining, so I simply carried my umbrella. As I passed by the alley way next to the club, I could hear a beautiful rhythmic sound coming from it. Standing in a small light outside of the door that led into the club, the girl from the first performance stood doing vocal warm-ups.

I approached her, “Uh, hey! I saw your performance, you were amazing!” 

She turned to look at me, and smiled bashfully, “Oh? Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed it, I’m getting ready for my next song, but I have some time to chat if you want.” 

I smiled and held out my hand, “My name’s Maynya.” 

“Chixie, it’s nice to meet a fan, hahah.” She shook my hand. 

Chixie… Chixie, Oh!

“Oh! I’ve heard of you before, a… friend of mine recommended your self titled album.” I said happily. 

“Really? That’s awesome! Tell your friend I said thanks for promo-ing me!” 

“Yeah! Actually… he told me that he’s met you before, I think. Do you know a guy named Zebruh Codakk?” 

Her face went blank, “Zebruh? Ohhh fuck that guy…” she whined, “I fucking hate him.” 

“Oh, jeeze, uh… I’m sorry.” 

“No, no, it’s okay, me and him just have a… one sided relationship… I guess.” She said, her smile returning.

“Oh? How so, if you don’t mind me prying hahha.” 

“Ugh, he’s like… Ugh.” She laughed, “He runs a super popular blog for reviewing albums and shows, so I have to be as nice to him as possible or else he could destroy my whole career. Which I know he would do, a close friend of mine got a bad review from him and their follower count tanked.” 

“Jeeze, god that sounds terrible,” I said, “I didn’t know he was…”

“That bad? Oh yeah, not to mention he’s a total creep. He tried to give me a shoulder rub one time after one of my shows, and I wanted to take my skin off and throw it in the trash, ughh,” she laughed again, but it sounded pained, “He also calls himself a ‘gutterblood ally’ and I suppose if you’ve talked to him for more than ten minutes you’d know that’s a load of bullshit.” 

I laughed with her, and nodded, “God yeah he's… definitely something.” 

“Hey, I gotta get going, my set is about to start. Little tip, don't fuck with Zebruh, he’s not worth it,” she waved as she went back into the club, “I’ll see you around!”

I stood there in the alley way for a moment, and mulled over what she said. I didn’t exactly have a career he could tarnish, or else he would probably have done that already, but the creepiness was certainly apparent.

I walked back home alone in the dark. Most of the streetlights were lit so I could still see, but in the few places where they were out, it was pitch dark. The trip back was quiet and lonely, and the oppressive darkness made me a bit nervous, but I made it home perfectly safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! Leave kudos if ya haven't, comment if ya want to, and look forward to the next chapter! ☆♡☆♡☆


	5. In The Eyes of a Lusus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zeb wants to have dinner at his hive with you! How fun!! :3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another quick thank you to everyone reading this, y'all thank you so much ♡☆♡☆♡☆♡

My morning started with a call. 

“Hello?” I mumbled, “This is… YAAAAAAAAWWWNNNNNNN… Maynya speaking…” 

“♡ Hey Maynya! How’s my favorite bronze blooded girl in the whole world? ♡” Zebruh cooed into his end of the receiver, and I rolled my eyes.

“I’m fine, you?”

“I’m alright, is your foot feeling better yet? Sprains don’t usually take this long to heal.” 

I huffed, “It would have healed faster if I hadn’t had to walk on it so much, but yes. It’s fine.” 

“Great! So when do you wanna come over to my hive? I have lunch and dinner all planned out, and I know you’ll love it.” He didn't seem to catch my somewhat salty remark.

“You said that last time, but kay.” 

“Are you… mad at me?” he asked. Good job, he caught it this time.

I thought for a second, than sighed, “It’s not important, I’m just tired is all.” 

“Okay… well… When do you wanna come over?”

“Uhh… I dunno, in an hour or something? I literally just woke up,” I sighed into the phone, and sat up, “I don’t know where you live, and I’m sure if I stroll into a highblood neighborhood I’ll get like, stabbed or something, so you need to… Escort me there…” 

“Okay, I’ll live about an hour away anyways so this works out perfect, ♡ I’ll see you soon! ♡” 

“Mhm, see yah.” 

I hung up, and stretched my arms over my head, I could already tell today was going to be a very…  
Very…

VERY long day. 

 

An hour passed, I got cleaned up and wore a nice outfit. I still looked miserably exhausted, but that’s what happens when you spend a whole day fearing for your life, you look like shit for a while after. I waited patiently on my couch for Zebruh to come knocking on my door. 

I didn’t have to wait very long, I barely started playing a game boredly on my phone, before I heard the gentle “Knock knock knock" of Zebruh.

I answered it and greeted him with a half smile, “Hey.” 

“♡ Hello lovely. ♡ Ready to head out?” he grinned and offered me his hand. 

I didn’t take it though, I tried not to let it show, but I was feeling uneasy towards him. Probably due to what Chixie said the night before. 

“Uh, yeah, I think so. Where exactly do you live?” I asked, sticking my hands in the pockets of my shorts. 

“A ways away, now that your foot is better, a long walk would probably do you some good right?” 

“Ye… Wait what’s that supposed to mean?” 

“Well you’ve been cooped up for so long, a strong bronze blood like you needs to get out so you can stay fit,” he began walking down the hall, with his hands also in his pockets. 

I nodded, and followed him, “I guess… I didn’t really get out much before I sprained my ankle though.” 

“Anyways,” he seemed to not hear me, “I can’t wait to show you my place, ◇ I’ll give you the grand tour, and make you a delicious meal ◇.” 

We chatted about nothing while we walked to his hive. None of the conversation went anywhere, or continued after a few words, mostly because of me giving short answers and no follow up questions. I kept my hands firmly in my pockets, but while we walked Zebruh still tried to put his arm around my shoulders, or link arms with me. 

He asked me a few times what was wrong, and I simply told him I was just cold each time. He eventually offered me his vest, which I refused to his disappointment. 

I wasn’t looking forward to going to his hive, but at the same time I was a little curious about what it was like. Considering he is a blueblood, I assumed his hive would be gigantic, extravagant, and bougie as all hell.   
Which to my lack of surprise, it exactly was. 

“♡ Welcome to my humble abode. ♡” he smiled and held the door for me as I stepped in. 

I was stunned by his hive, it was simply gigantic, and decorated with statues and paintings all around. It was also kept exceptionally clean, not a speck of dust anywhere. I stood and stared around from the entrance, and my mouth fell agape slightly.

“I knew you’d like it,” he laughed to himself, “Come on, I’ll show you around, maybe you’ll meet some of my other guests.” 

“Other guests? Are you throwing a party?” 

He simply laughed, and waved his hand, “No no no, I keep lowblood guests here in my hive and take care of them, ♡ I’m very progressive that way, you know ♡, I care for all sorts of less fortunate people, but I cherish diversity, so you certainly won’t see another blue blood here.” 

I nodded very stiffly, and pursed my lips, while he continued talking. 

“I’m a gutterblood ally after all, and I’m always taking in new guests that need my help. They’re all housed there with me, and we have such a great time together.” 

I continued nodding. This sounded… bad… but I still had a smidge of hope left for him, so I continued following him without a word.

A gigantic white striped hoofbeast came trotting up to the two of us, eyeing me with what I could only describe as malicious intent. It snorted in my general direction, then eyed Zebruh.

“Oh, don't mind him, he’s just my lusus… he’s a Little behind on the times and doesn’t quite agree with my activist lifestyle.” 

I waved, and gave a soft “Hello" to the lusus, who simply snorted, and trotted away. 

I was feeling very very unwelcome here. 

The two of us continued walking down the halls, peeking into rooms here and there, until he stopped at his own room and showed me in. 

“Here’s my room, make yourself comfortable, I’ll have snacks brought in,” he winked and shut the door behind me, I was alone. 

I decided to look around a bit, his room was… definitely something. There were activist posters all over his wall that promoted lowblood livelihood, as well as a couple that said “Ally" and “United". A few music posters were hung as well, some of bands I didn’t recognize. If I hadn’t known the person who the room belonged to, I would have assumed that it belonged to a very passionate activist who really gave a damn about social issues… and music...

Zebruh was far from either of those things. 

I spotted what I assumed was a jam pile, it looked comfortable enough minus the couple of horseshoes that were in it, and a rather obscene looking puppet. I sat down in it and sighed, trying to relax a bit. I had no idea what he meant by having snacks “brought up" but it left an unpleasant feeling in the pit of my stomach. 

I heard footsteps coming down the hall, and I assumed it was Zebruh, hopefully with the snacks. 

It was not however. Very not him. 

Instead a rather scrawny looking yellow blood girl in ratty clothes opened the door, carrying an armful of various treats. We stared at eachother for a moment, before she opened her mouth.

“Are you new here?” 

“Uh, I’m just-"

“Listen, you had better get out of here, Zebruh is…” she shuddered, “He’s not a great guy, and he treats us lowbloods really really poorly.” 

I just stared at her in silence. She set the snacks down on a table, then hurriedly left. I sat there in the pile and started to get an even more uneasy feeling in my stomach. 

I was...

Definitely not safe here.

Moments later, Zebruh came back into the room, smiling happily, “Oh! I see you’ve taken a fancy to my jam pile! Isn’t it just the coziest thing?” he stepped over and sat down next to me, “It’s been a while since I’ve sat with anyone here, I keep on falling out of quadrants with people, because they just don’t understand my political veiws.” 

I stayed silent, and just watched him talk. 

“The last few people I was moirails with tried to play me like the bad guy all the time, after I helped them out so much and gave them such an advantage to a happy healthy life by agreeing to be with them,” he continued on but I wasn’t particularly listening, everything that came out of his mouth was giving me extremely bad vibes today. 

Eventually I got tired of him talking, “Zeb, when’s dinner?” 

He stopped dead in his tracks, and paused for a moment, “About twenty minutes, there’s snacks if you can’t wait.” 

“No… I’ll be fine, I was just wondering,” I said, giving him a weak smile. 

He beamed back, and started talking again. 

“Anyways, enough about me, I want to talk about you, what kinda stuff are you into?” 

“S-stuff?”

“Yeah, movies, music, anything?” 

“Oh… well I guess I like movies, I saw a really good one a while ago abo-" 

“That’s really interesting! So babe, I’ve been wanting to ask you something.” 

I didn’t say anything for a second, but mumbled a “What,” when I made the mistake of making eye contact with him. 

“I tried to ask you when we were at dinner last time, but this time I know I won’t be interrupted,” he reached over and grabbed both of my hands, and held them close to his chest, “♡ Maynya, will you make me the happiest guy on Alternia, and be my mat-" 

There was a brisk knock on the door, that then freaked open slightly, a pale troll boy behind it. 

“Uhm, dinner is ready, Mr.Zebruh.” 

Zebruh stared at the boy for a few seconds before huffing an “Okay.” 

The door shut, and I heard the boy scurry off down the hall. 

I took the moment as an opportunity to retract my arms from his somewhat delicate grasp, and get up.

“Oh good, I can’t wait to see what’s for dinner!” 

Zebruh followed on after me, grumbling something under his breath. I didn’t pay it any mind, I just booked it for the dining area. 

 

The table was already set. There were only two seats at either end of a table that could easily sit fourteen. A delicious smelling four course meal was left steaming on platters by even more sickly looking lowbloods. 

I couldn’t bring myself to sit, seeing all these other considerably more hungry faces in the room. Zebruh came trotting up behind me, and pulled my seat out, gesturing for me to sit. 

I hesitated, but felt obligated to sit down. 

He sat on the other side of the table, and started eating. The lowbloods that had made the dinner stood and waited with hungry eyes, before Zebruh shooed them away. 

“Fellas, don’t forget to clean up the kitchen alright? We’re all living here together and we all have to work to keep it clean.” 

They collectively scattered off to go clean. 

I stared down at my plate. 

This was bad. 

This was very bad. 

Extraordinarily shitty. 

“Zebruh…” 

“♡ Yes Maynya, dear? ♡” 

“Don’t you think your… Guests… should have something to eat too? This is a lot of food for just the two of us.”   
He stopped mid chew, and stared at me from across the table. He took a painful looking swallow, and cleared his throat. 

“They can eat whenever they want.” 

“Then why aren’t they eating now? Some of them looked pretty hungry.” 

He glared at me, “♤ Maynya, drop it. ♤” 

I gave him an angry look, “Drop it?” 

“♤ Yes. Drop it. I know what you’re implying and I don’t like it. ♤”

I clenched my fists on my lap, and scowled. I assumed someone noticing the blatant disdain for his “guests" had happened before. 

“No. I won’t drop it. These people aren’t your guests at all Zebruh. They’re servants. That I assume you lured here with the false intention of providing them safe haven,” my words were laced with poison, this was too much, I was done being nice.

Zebruh stood up abruptly from his seat, knocking the chair back. Despite the loud clatter of the chair reverberating around the large room, I could still hear him shout at me. 

“♤ SHUT UP. ♤” 

“No! Zebruh these people are sick and starving! You can’t just lounge around and let them live like this!” 

“I’m helping them! I’m letting them stay here so they have a roof over their head and somewhere dry to sleep!” 

“And you’re working them to death!” I got up, and stormed away from the table. 

“MAYNYA! GET BACK HERE, YOU CANT JUST WALK OUT.” 

“YES, ZEBRUH, I CAN. AND I IMPLORE ANY ONE ELSE STAYING HERE TO DO THE SAME,” I whipped around to face him, “Listen Zebruh, you aren’t an ally. You aren’t ANYTHING but an oppressor to these poor lowbloods, and I would know, because before you dragged my ass out of that ditch, I was at a rally to keep people like YOU from hurting us even more!” 

I made my way to the door, but I was stopped by a very enraged looking striped lusus. 

It was glaring at me, and looked like it was ready to trample me at any moment. I froze, not wanting to cause any sudden movement to spur it to murder me sooner. It gingerly took a step forward, and I took a step back, stumbling over and falling onto the floor. I still had my eyes locked with it’s. 

I was going to die here. 

Because of some stupid boy, some stupid privileged blue blooded boy.


	6. If you even look at me I will stomp you to death with my hooves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh shit boi do you die boi?

I looked death in the face every day, just by being alive in a society that wanted me dead. 

I made it work though. 

It was life. 

I had to accept a defeatist attitude my whole life so that I wouldn’t feel as bad about getting culled some day.

That’s just how it was. 

Until I started embracing it. My own mortality. 

I attended underground rallies and protests against the oppressive society I lived in, I unified people with beliefs and ideals they shared, and I took every chance to tear things down as I could. 

I wanted to make something of myself, and do something meaningful with my meaningless life. 

And it was all about to be wasted on the marble floor of one of my oppressor’s hive. 

I looked death in the eyes today, and they were the eyes of a very pissed off zebra. 

 

“Wait!” 

Or at least, I thought I was going to die. 

The lusus’ eyes darted over to the entrance to the dining hall. 

I couldn’t move, my body felt rigid with fear.

Zebruh came skulking out of the dining hall, with his arms folded in front of him, and his shoulders hunched over. He kept his head down as he approached. 

“Just… leave okay?” he said softly. 

I slowly stood up, not bothering to say anything or turn to look at him. 

“I don’t…” he sighed shakily, his lusus went over to him, and nudged him gently with his nose, he smiled a bit and patted the beast’s snout, “I just want you to leave… Maynya…”

I took a step towards the door, and opened it. Before I left I took a quick glance at Zebruh. 

He was crying. 

 

I left. 

My apartment felt especially lonely that night. 

The two moons hung in the sky and gently illuminated the room. 

I was sprawled out on the couch looking as disheveled as ever. I was still shaking badly and I couldn’t eat. I decided I would… try and clear my head. Tonight was awful and I was done leaving my days off on bad notes.

I left my apartment, and went back to that club Chixie was playing at the other night. Hopefully she’d be on again tonight.

The walk there was just as dark and dreary as last time, only it wasn’t raining this time around. 

Admission was still cheap, so I paled and went right in. I ordered some drinks for myself and sat down, praying no one would bother me.

“Oh, Maynya? Is that you?” a soft lilting voice called out to me. It was Chixie.

She could sit with me if she wanted. 

I waved her over, and she took a seat beside me, “Hey! It’s cool running into you again! How have you… been… are you okay?” 

My hands were noticeably shaky, and I looked overall simply gloomy. 

“Yeah, I’m fine, I’ve just had a long night, yknow?” I tried to play it off like I was just exhausted, which I was, but this was a different kind of exhausted. 

“You just don’t look so hot, you sure you’re good? What happened?” 

She spoke softly and gently to me, it was a nice change of pace from Kiyana's loud demeanor, and Zebruh’s constant negging. 

In fact, it was such a change, I broke down a little. 

Transparent orange tears streaked down my face and I sobbed quietly next to Chixie, who very sweetly patted my shoulders. 

“Hey, it’s aright, you’re okay, talk to me.” 

“I just…” I sniffled, “God I had such a shitty night… Zebruh roped me in to hanging out with him again and I just… I didn’t know what to do.” 

“Hey hey hey, you’re okay Maynya, what did that big idiot do?” 

“He’s just so fucked up… I went to his hive and snapped at him, and his lusus wanted to kill me…” 

“Oh honey… listen, you’re okay, I promise you’re going to be alright.” 

I let out a shaky sigh, “I know… I know… I just… I dunno. He stopped his lusus from trampling me and just let me leave… I’m so afraid I’m going to get culled…” 

“Trust me, he’s a huge jerk, but he’s not gonna get you culled. Take a few days to just recuperate and relax, you deserve it for putting up with his shit.” 

I nodded to her, and tried to calm down. She was right, I was going to be fine. The worst Zebruh could do to me now is not talk to me again, and at this point, I was fine with it. 

Chixie smiled kindly at me, “I’m gonna go up and sing soon, I have a song I think you’ll like.” 

I smiled back to her, and leaned forward slightly towards her. She gave me a warm gentle hug, then pulled away and went to her dressing room to get ready for her set. 

I felt better from just talking to her. She was so kind and really knew her shit. 

A few minutes later, the curtains opened, and Chixie was standing center stage, waving at everyone cheering for her. The track started playing, and she began to sing. 

“Twist and pull.” 

“Breathe the terror of life on hell.” 

“Spines and gore, forever more…”

“On this nightmare island spell.” 

“Heiress above, blight below.”

“I’m knocking on your hives front door.” 

“Love me please.”

“I abhor.” 

Her lyrics drifted through the venue, I could tell they were about some sort of lost love, that led to resentment towards the one lost. It was beautiful, truly touching. 

My mind wandered with the intonation of the song. 

I felt at ease, and I hoped it would last forever. 

But the song had to end, much to my discontent. Chixie walked off stage, and the curtains shut. I decided to leave. One song was enough to leave me feeling better about my day. Chixie was a good friend. 

 

When I got back to my apartment, I realized I had left my phone there. I checked it, and saw that no one had called or texted me. 

With a sigh, I tossed my phone aside, and collapsed onto the couch. My dreams were plagued by the angry white eyes of Zebruh’s lusus. 

Maybe there was some good in him, he did keep me from being trampled to death after all. 

 

When I woke up, it was dark out. I felt awful still, but rested. I skipped out on making a good breakfast since I was still feeling the fear shakes, but a cup of coffee held me over. I didn’t know what I was going to do with my day, I didn’t know if there was anything I could do. The back of my head thought that Zebruh was somehow going to get me culled hanged very threateningly in the air. Maybe it was best that I stay home and do nothing. 

Maybe I could just lay down on the couch and watch a movie, or sleep more. Maybe I could take a well needed slime soak in my bathtub. Maybe I could answer my phone that was buzzing so annoyingly on my table. 

“Heyyo, Maynya?” 

“This is she.” 

“It’s Shelby! Hey I was wondering if you wanted to meet up today in the sewers, there’s gonna be a little meet n greet for new members of the cause, we got a whole bunch of people who wanna contribute, there’s some jades, and a teal who’s joining!” He laughed, “And like, a bunch of others but we dunno who all is coming yet.” 

“Oh, sure, when's the meet?” 

“Later today, me n some others are already down here getting some stuff setup, so like, come over whenever brah.” 

“Alright, I’ll see ya in a bit Shelby!” 

Well… that solves that. 

The sewers were exceptionally safe from drones, especially the farther in you go, the tunnels get more labyrinthine and narrow. It’s where we usually hold our underground rallies, the protests however were above ground, and usually got drones called on us very quickly. We were smart about it though, always had a plan of escape, so the most people would survive. 

Today was simply a routine meet n greet for the newbies. We always had tons of new people wanting to join our protests and rallies, because plenty of folks were being targeted by the horrendous caste system on a daily. 

I got ready to leave, I grabbed my phone, a pocket knife, and a waterproof backpack with extra clothes in it. It was never a bad idea to pack extras in my experience, just in case.

I knew my way to the specific part of the sewers that we would meet at like the back of my hand. I opened a grate on the edge of town, and climbed down the ladder that stuck out from the wall. I made sure to shut the grate, then continued trough the tunnel. I could hear happy chatty voices coming from around the corner, and when I rounded it, I spotted a few of my friends.

Shelby was the first to greet me, he waved and smiled at me from behind his messy black bangs, “Yoo! Maynya! It’s sick you could make it, today’s gonna be stellar dude.”

“Yeah!” I happily walked over to him, “Wouldn’t miss it for the world, I love meeting all the new members.”   
“Shyaaaw! Brooooo, apparently there’s also an indigo blood and a few more teals that decided to come, isn’t that sick?” 

I tensed slightly at the word “indigo blood", but shook it off, “That’s great! It’s nice that more allies are joining too.” 

“Hell yeah!” He pumped his fist in the air, and hollered, I mimicked him, but quieter. 

As preparations for the event continued on, more and more people showed up. Some were new, and some were friends of mine I met before. I greeted the group of teal bloods that stopped by, one of them had to leave before the rally ended, because she had to attend her Legislacerator classes. 

While we chatted for the short time she was there, she mostly talked about revolutionaries and religious figures from many many sweeps ago. 

“It would be awesome if you did more research on them Tyzias, you could give all of us here something to strengthen our convictions even more!” I chirped.

“Yeah, I’ll try and look mmmmore into it. If immmm gonna put mmmy life on the line for sommmething, why not this?” she smiled tiredly, I knew she really meant it though from how passionately she had been speaking earlier about it. 

I continued mulling around the room, greeting people here and there and talking to friends.

Shelby snagged me by the arm and pulled me aside, “There you are!” 

“Hey Shel, you need something?” I asked. 

“Yeah like, it’d be hella rad if you’d start us out on stage, just say hi to everyone and tell em what we’re about.” 

I nodded to him, “I’d be happy to!” 

“Sickkk, let’s head up there then.” 

I followed behind him, and he handed me a microphone. 

I stepped up onto the makeshift stage, and cleared my throat, looking out over the crowd. I smiled back at all of the smiling faces looking back up at me. This must be what it’s like for Chixie, getting on stage to sing. 

“Hello everyone! I'm Maynya Gorgex, and I'd like to welcome you all to todays meet and greet!” people in the small crowd cheered and pumped their fists in the air enthusiastically, “Our group doesn’t have an official name yet, since were still so small, but I personally like to call it the Unification of Lowbloods and Highbloods, or the ULH.” 

I scanned the crowd as I spoke, taking in all the faces. A group of Jade bloods stayed towards the back, but showed enthusiasm none the less. The few remaining teal bloods cheered as well. Shelby had mentioned a blueblood that was joining, but I didn’t notice anyone wearing any sort of blue, or anyone that wasn’t wearing clothes with their colour on them. 

I continued to talk, “We gather here semi monthly, and are always welcome to new members of any caste, colour, or creed! We cherish diversity, and our main goal is to unite all blood colours under the same systems, whether they be social, or law.” 

More people cheered, and several more people seemed to have joined the crowd, filing in from the back. Still no sign of that blueblood.

“It brings a smile to my face, and a warmth to my heart to see so many new people, I hope we can provide lasting friendships, as well as broadening knowledge to each and every one of you here tonight,” I said, with a proud conviction in my voice. 

I scanned the crowd one last time. 

There. 

In the very far back, still by the entrance of the room a lone troll stood. 

Was it…

Zebruh? Oh no…

My voice caught in my throat for a moment upon seeing him, but I continued speaking, this time, directing my gaze towards the far-from-friendly blueblood in the back. 

“However, if anyone here does not share our ideals, or is in a state of closed mindedness towards our cause, due to your social standing, or simply sheer lack of understanding, or unwillingness to change into what it truly means to be an ally, I implore you to leave.” 

I got less of a cheer for that one, since it mostly just applied to Zebruh, but people still agreed with me none the less. Zebruh hadn’t moved from his spot in the back outside of the crowd. He simply stared at me as I spoke. 

I cleared my voice again, and exclaimed loudly, “If you are here to learn, listen, change, and love everyone here as your equal, I want you to raise your fist in the air, and say with me, We Are United!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God finally we're getting somewhere.   
> A huge thank you to everyone who's been reading! It means so much to me that so many people have been enjoying my little fan story lol.   
> Look forward to the next chapter where maybe we'll get to see Zeb change for the better.


	7. You know what this is? Growth.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Me: *chanting* REDEMPTION REDEMPTION REDEMPTION

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thank you to @cockyroaches on Tumblr for letting me reference an AU they have, I really appreciate it!   
> And another huge thank you to everyone who's been patiently waiting this next chapter!! 
> 
> Happy holidays y'all!

The crowd cheered and shouted the words with me, all raising their fists in the air in unification. 

I shouted into the mic again, “We Are United!” 

More people cheered, and raised their fists. I swept the crowd, and took in all the cheering, laughing, and teary eyed faces with great pride. 

These people were all here for for one reason, peace.

As I let my eyes drift to the back, they locked on Zebruh. He was still there, and even more, had his fist raised in the air with everyone else. 

I couldn’t tell if it was supposed to be some sort of joke, or an actual real effort on his end. Like he had come to his senses and realized his assholery after I left his hive the night before. 

I couldn’t be sure.

 

When I stepped off the stage, Shelby took the reigns and started talking into the mic to explain more about what we did, and when other meet ups were. Since today was a meet and greet, the speech was relatively short and sweet. I stayed off to the side of the stage during all of it, and when he got off the stage, several people came up to me and him with questions. 

Some asked for phone numbers to call for information, some asked for grieving advice due to quadramates being culled, and others asked for rehousing information, since their hives had been destroyed recently. Shelby and I managed to answer all of their questions one by one, and people began filing out of the sewers slowly.

Several of us that stayed behind started the teardown process. Everything that was too big to be carried out of the sewers was wrapped in tarps as waterproofed as possible, and submerged in the disgusting murky sewer water. It was gross but it was the best option we had really. 

I decided to leave after most of the heavy lifting was done. I said bye to Shelby and some others, and grabbed my backpack and started my way through the sewers back to my hive. 

When I got to the grate that led up to a few blocks from my hive, I noticed Zebruh was waiting, leaning against the wall. I gritted my teeth and approached him. 

“Zebruh. I… wasn’t expecting to see you,” I said in the nicest voice I could muster, though it was still very flat, “Who told you how to get here?” 

He perked up and glanced at me for a moment when I said his name, but otherwise kept his eyes on the floor. 

“One of the… lowbloods from my hive told me about it after you… and pretty much everyone else, left,” he sighed heavily, not in a sarcastic way, but a melancholic way, “She said that a good first step to penitence would be to go this and really listen to the message.” 

“She sounds smart.” I said softly, “Are you gonna come to all the meets?” 

He paused, and slowly looked up at me, “If I do, are you going to stop coming to them?” 

I shook my head, “No. I’m staying put.” 

“Mkay. Good to know…” he paused again, and stepped away from the wall, he put his hands in his pockets and tried to smile at me. It was shaky and sad, but still had an air of sincerity to it. 

“Hey, you were really strong up there.” 

I shot him a tired look, and he put his hands up. 

“No-no, not like that, I mean… You spoke with a lot of conviction. I think you’d be able to sway even purple bloods to listen to you, ◇ your voice is really powerful ◇.” 

My expression softened, “Thanks. I’ve been doing this for a while so… I guess I’ve gotten good at it.”   
I stepped up onto the ladder, and hesitated before climbing, “Hey… I’m glad that you’re changing Zeb. You have a lot of potential to be a really really wonderful person.” 

I climbed up before he could say anything to me, and I went home. 

 

Days passed, I had gone out here and there to get more food, and to hang out with friends. Today however, I stayed home and watched movies. As I started to get lost in the plot of a crappy rom-com, there was a knock on my door. I got up to get it, and was surprised to see Zebruh standing outside. 

Instead of his usual dress shirt, vest, and tie, he just wore a black t-shirt with his sign printed onto it. His hair was also slightly disheveled. It was a very different look for him, but not an overly terrible one. 

“Hey Zeb, what’s up?” I asked, trying to show emotion in my voice, as I still wasn’t 100% un-mad with him, “Do you need something?” 

“Yeah I um… I wanted to apologize. For everything I put you through since we met…” he pulled at the hem of his shirt with one hand, and brushed his hair back with the other, keeping his eyes trained on the floor.

“I put you through a lot of really shitty stuff… and I really just wanted to tell you sorry. You mean a lot to me, and I hope the two of us can still be friends…” 

I leaned against the doorjamb and sighed, “Thank you Zeb. It means a lot to me that you wanted to apologize face to face.” 

He smiled a bit, “If you’re okay with it, I wanted to hang out with you tonight. Chixie is performing at a club nearby and I…” he sighed as well, letting his smile slowly fade, “I need to apologize to her as well…”   
“Okay. Sounds fun, lemme grab my phone and we can go.” I gave him a small smile, then gestured for him to come in. 

He stood in the door way, and waited for me to get my things. 

 

During the walk to the club, he didn’t try his usual tactics to hold my hand or put his arm around me, he just walked with his hands in his pockets. 

I struck up a conversation, “So, I like the new look, it’s really casual.” 

He smiled weakly, and nodded, “Yeah, I decided I was going to start wearing some less expensive clothes so I could save more money to donate here and there, I donated all of my old vests and dress shirts, save for a couple of them.”

“That’s really neat, I’m sure you’ve made a lot of people very happy already just from that.” 

He smiled, “Hah, yeah. It’s a big change for me, but…” 

“It's progress. And it’s wonderful that you’re making progress.” 

He nodded, “Yeah, progress.” 

He had a sort of melancholic air to him, I could tell now that he really was trying to change for the best, bit it also seemed to be taking a toll on him. 

“Hey, are you okay?” I asked. 

He gave me a weak smile, “Yeah I’m just… trying to make amends with people… I’ve felt really bad since the day you stormed out of my hive, I hadn’t really realized just how awful I was being until you told me off.” 

I pursed my lips, “Yeah, well-" 

“I know. I deserved it, but I needed to hear it from someone I really cared about. When you said the same thing at that meet and greet, I just… I dunno, I knew it was time to change.” 

We walked silently the rest of the way to the club, and when we got there, Zebruh stopped and took a breath at the entrance. 

“You good?” 

“Yeah… I just gotta… figure out what I’m gonna say…” 

“Just… say you’re sorry,” I told him, then I thought for a second about what Chixie had told me, “Chixie and I are sort of pals, and she told me about some stuff you’ve done in the past.”

He frowned, “Ah…” 

“Zebruh just know that even if you apologize to someone, and go through the process of changing and being a better person, whoever you’re apologizing to might not be ready to forgive you.” I put my hand on his shoulder, and smiled up at him, “What matters is that you tell them you’re sorry, and listen to them after you do.” 

He smiled a bit, and nodded, “Okay.” 

The two of us stepped into the club, and found a table to sit at together. People were already on stage, so we decided to wait until after Chixie preformed to go and talk to her. We had a good time talking about the music, Zebruh went into detail of a couple bands he recognized.

Finally, when Chixie got onstage to sing, we cheered for her. 

Zebruh's expression was a strange mix of sadness, and admiration. 

I figured it was because of his appreciation of Chixie and her music, and the fact that this might be the last time he gets to hear her live on stage. 

I hoped for the best but… Chixie really didn’t owe him anything, and I wouldn’t hold it against her if she blew up in his face and told him to never talk to her again. 

 

When she finished her song, we cheered again. Zebruh made the first move to get up, and follow her back to the dressing rooms, I followed closely behind.

I could tell he was very nervous, so I gave him a gentle pat on the back, to try and reassure him. 

“You’re going to be fine.” I said. 

He smiled weakly, and when we got to the door with Chixie’s name hung up on it, he knocked. 

She opened the door, and immediately threw on her façade of a smile, “Oh Zebruh! I didn’t know you were here, you usually sit front and center!” 

He smiled, “I was sitting in the back rows this time with Maynya actually. I uh… I just wanted to hear you sing at your best.” 

She fake laughed, “Haha! That’s sweet of you! Well thanks for stopping by, and Maynya! It’s awesome to see you, shoot me a text sometime, kay? I’d love to hang out one of these days.” 

I could tell her voice slowly melted back to sincerity as she spoke to me. 

“Of course!” I said, “I’d love to hang too.” 

She smiled, “Well, Zebruh do you need something?”

“I uhm…” he froze for a second, “Uh… yeah. I wanted to talk to you for a sec and just… yeah.” 

Chixie’s fake smile faltered with confusion for a moment, but she quickly opened the door wider, inviting the two of us in to sit and chat. 

The three of us sat down on the few chairs there were in the room. I sat off to the side a bit, since this was supposed to be between Zebruh and Chixie. 

Zebruh started up. 

“So… Chixie… I just….” He sounded nervous, and his hands were shaking slightly. 

Chixie had a look of bewilderment, “Hey, are you like, good?” 

“I’m fine, I’m just… trying to figure out what I want to say,” he spoke softly to her.

“I mean like… just come out and say it, I guess. You… aren’t usually this nervous about anything.” 

He sighed, “Yeah… Chixie…. I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry.” 

“Sorry?” 

“Sorry. For just… everything I’ve done, and said to you.” 

She sat for a moment, and visually relaxed a bit, the fake smile fell away totally, and her posture softened, “You’re sorry?” 

“Yes. Unbelievably so. I’ve been terrible to you, I’ve been creepy, and manipulative, and cruel to you. I want to try and fix things, and I want to try and be your friend, for real. I’m even deleting all my social media accounts and starting fresh, so you won’t have to worry about me reviewing your music or anything from me anymore.”

He tried to make eye contact with her, but couldn’t seem to get there. 

Chixie didn’t seem to mind though, she was still amazed over the words that just came out of his mouth.   
Things were looking up for Zebruh in that moment, but that quickly crumbled away. 

“No. No, Zebruh, I’m really really glad you’re trying to… be a better person or whatever this all is, but… I can’t forgive you. Not yet,” her words were like knives to Zebruh, but the verbal stab to his heart was warranted. 

“I understand. Thank you for… Just…. Thank you. I won’t bother you again, I’m glad I got to hear you sing tonight.” He stood up, and stepped out, “Maynya, I’ll be in the hall.” 

I nodded to him, and he shut the door behind him. 

The two of us sat in silence for a few moments. 

“Oh… My god? Oh my god. That really just happened,” Chixie sputtered, “That really actually just happened.” 

“Yeah hes… been going through some changes.” 

“Did you get him to like, do all this?” she looked at me with wild confusion in her eyes.

“Well… kinda yeah, I spurred the change I guess. It’s a long story.” 

“Maynya… Maynya oh my god thank you,” she cracked into a smile, and leaned over to grab my shoulders, “Thank you so so so much for just… Maynya, hearing him say all this seems almost too good to be true.” 

I smiled, “Yeah, it kinda does, hahhah, I promise you that he’s gonna keep true to his word.” 

“God, thank you thank you thank you!” she pulled me into a tight hug, “This is amazing, you’re amazing!” 

I smiled happily, and hugged her back. She was ecstatic about Zebruh leaving her alone. 

“I should go check on him though, yknow,” I said, “This was probably a hard blow for him.” 

“You think so?” she asked.

“Yeah… He actually really likes your music, but he definitely let his bluebloodedness get in the way of truly enjoying it.” 

“T-that’s… hard to believe, but I’ll take your word for it. Go check on him, he… probably needs it. Shoot me a text when you can ok?” 

“Absolutely, I’ll see ya around.” 

I got up and stepped out into the hall. A few doors down, Zebruh was sitting on the floor, with his head on his knees, and his arms covering his face. I slowly approached him, and sat down next to him. 

Another band was performing on stage, so we didn’t have to worry about anyone coming by for a bit. 

“Hey Zeb, you doing okay?” 

I could hear him sniffle, and he shook his head without lifting it. His body quaked with what I guessed was sobs. I put my arm around him, and gently rubbed his back. 

“Its okay Zeb… Maybe one of these days she’ll ask you to one of her shows, you just have to stay optimistic ok?” 

He nodded slowly, and more shakes followed. This was probably gonna be hard on him for a while… And as much as I didn’t want to have to be the one to help him through it, I felt… 

Sad for him, but proud of him at the same time. 

I guess I did care about him after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might take a while to put out the next chapter after this, the winter holidays are a busy busy time for me! I hope y'all understand ♡☆♡☆♡


	8. Are You Nervous?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two stupids go on a date, part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YO! This chapter is way fucking late and I'm so sorry I haven't updated in so long!! I hope y'all enjoy what I have tho, expect more soon ;3c
> 
> Also!! I made art of Kiyana, Sioban, Bernie, and Shelby on my Twitter! (@mal_pup) Y'all should totally check out my blog there, as well as on my Tumblr! (milkhellart)

After a while longer of letting him sit and mope, I tapped his shoulder. 

“Zeb, it’s getting late, we should leave.” 

At this point, he had stopped crying, but his eyes were still puffy and his sleeves and face were stained blue. The last song of the night was playing as the club started to get ready to close, it was slow, and melodic, and sad. 

Zebruh slowly lifted his head, and got up to his feet. He kept his arms wrapped around himself, and shuffled on his feet a bit. 

“Hey, sweetheart, it’s gonna be okay, okay?” I smiled, and held out my hand to him, “Why don’t we get something to eat, and then I’ll walk you home?” 

He nodded in response, and took my hand, gently lacing his fingers with mine. 

We left the club, and I led him through town to a nearby fast food place. I bought us both burgers and fried root vegetable sticks, and I suggested we sit on the curb and eat since it was a nice night out. 

I tried to strike up conversation a few times, but nothing caught on, so we sat and ate in silence. 

Until he spoke up. 

“So… Tomorrow is… a day… and I wanted to know if you maybe wanted to hang out… with me… tomorrow.” He stammered and mumbled through a mouthful of food.

“Sure, I’m down. What day is it?” I asked, through a mouthful of fries. 

“It’s nothing special, just… a day.” He shrugged. 

I side eyed him, and nodded, “Mkay. Swing by my place early, sound good?” 

“Yeah, sounds great.” He smiled, and continued eating silently. 

 

When we finished our dinner, I walked him to his hive. His lusus was waiting on the porch for him, and I felt like a character in a romantic comedy movie, where the parent was waiting on the porch for their kid to come home, so we had to make our goodbyes short, sweet, and awkward. 

“Thanks for coming with me today, Maynya, I really appreciate the support.” 

“Of course Zeb, what are friends for?” I smiled, and awkwardly fiddled with the hem of my shirt. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” He waved as he stepped up the stairs to his hive, and I waved back. 

As I walked away, I faintly heard him say, “Hi dad,” followed by an almost caring cooing whinny from his lusus.

 

When I got back to my hive, I checked my phone and saw that Kiyana texted me.

 

Kiyana: Hey guuurrrlllll!! I was wondering if you had plans tomorrow, Bernie, Sioban and I were gonna go hit up some stores and go partayyyyy!!!

Maynya: lol sorry, I already have plans with Zebruh tomorrow

Kiyana: OH DUH!! Of course yur gonna be out with your boy toy!!! Lollll, well I hope u 2 have fun!! Kisses!!!

Maynya: you too guys, kisses :P

 

I didn’t really think anything of it, those three go out and party all the time. Though I had a creeping feeling that tomorrow was something important…

 

The next day, I woke up bright and early to get ready for my day. I showered, brushed my hair and teeth, put on a nice outfit, and had a cup of coffee. 

My phone buzzed just as I sat down on my couch to watch some tv before Zebruh came by, and of course it was him. 

 

Zeb: Hey, sorry I’m running late, I had to grab some things, but ill be there in just a bit! 

Maynya: no problem, it’s a good 

 

About 20 minutes went by until I heard a knock at my door. I got up to answer it, and of course it was… 

Zebruh. 

Dolled up in his usual attire of a vest and button up shirt, with his hair well washed and pulled back, and in his arms was a bouquet of flowers, and a very large box of chocolates. 

“Oh, w-wow.” 

“Happy Flushed Affirmation Day, Maynya.” He smiled and presented the chocolates to me. 

I looked over the box a bit and noticed that they were from a slightly cheaper brand than what I expected, and the flowers seemed garden fresh. 

Before I could say anything, he spoke up, “I wanted to surprise you with something nice, I hope you don’t mind. The flowers are from my personal garden, and I saw the chocolates on my way here and I figured you’d like them... Just... friends being friends right?"

“Th… These are really sweet Zeb! Thanks! I’m certainly surprised, I’ll tell you that much… I had no idea it was Flushed Affirmation Day already.” 

He smiled a bit, “Do you just not keep track of dates at all?” 

“Not really, I don’t really do much unless I’m out with friends yknow?” I laughed a bit to myself.

“Oh, speaking of, I ran into your friends on my way here, they told us to ‘have fun but not the kind of fun that they’re gonna have’, whatever that means.” 

“Pfft, they’re going clubbing I think, I’m not super big on huge parties, but they always go out and get crazy.” 

He nodded, “Ah… Well, lucky you, I thought we’d take a stroll around the park and just… hang out for a while, and talk a bit.” 

“Sounds like a plan, lead the way.” 

 

The walk to the park was fairly uneventful, couples littered the streets around where I lived, and they were all clearly enjoying themselves. Holding hands, kissing each others cheeks, laughing, chatting loudly, typical couples things. 

I glanced over to Zebruh a few times, and each time he avoided eye contact with me. His hands were deep in his pockets, and he seemed to be sweating a bit. He was noticeably nervous about something, but I didn’t bother to pry. We were just two… friends, out for a walk, that’s all.

Our trip took a path through a more highblood neighborhood, and I began to get nervous. The power dynamic between the couple’s seemed to get more one sided. Couples consisting of a highblood and a lowblood seemed to be more like a relationship between a work horse and it’s master, ‘Do this, do that' without so much of a thank you afterwards. 

I heard Zebruh huff, and mutter under his breath. 

“God…” 

“You good?” 

“Yeah just… it’s gross watching folks mistreat their partner like that… I’d tell them to fuck off if I could but… I don’t… want them to hurt you over it…” he huffed again, this time with a more melancholic sigh to it. 

“Ah…” I said, softly. I took another look around at the other couples, one thing I noticed right off the bat compared to the couple’s from the other part of town was that no one was holding their partners hand. Everyone was either arms length apart from their date, or was making their date carry something heavy of theirs, or even them. 

I glanced down to Zebruh’s hands, and the one closest to me was out of his pocket and nervously fidgeting. 

“Why don’t we just…” I said softly. 

I took a chance to try and calm him down, and laced my fingers between his. 

“Not be them?” 

I glanced to him again, and caught the flash of a bright blue blush on his face before he turned away, and put his other hand on his cheek. 

I smiled, and noticed a few passing glances to us from other couples wandering the street.

Suddenly Zebruh spoke up, “This is nice.” 

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah… it’s like…” he paused for a moment, “It’s like a quiet protest against caste norms. It’s not much but we’re still making an impact.” He gestured across the street, where another blue blood and their yellow blood matesprite slowly moved to link arms together. 

Of course not all of the romantic gestures were welcomed by the highbloods, but the few brave couples that were showing real affection were really radiating happiness. 

“Like… I think a lot of pairs are just nervous because of the societal norms. So seeing other folks be open about it takes the tension away.” He said, “It’s not about being cull-bait, it’s about loving what you have.”

I nodded and squeezed his hand a bit, “Are you nervous?” 

“Extremely.” 

“Well, hopefully someday you won’t have to be, and neither will I, and neither will any of these other couples.” 

“Yeah… Someday…”


	9. Ah shit, here we go again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh shit, stuffs happening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy SHIT it's been a while huh? Nice to be back lmao, I hope y'all enjoy this next chapter!  
> I've gotten a TON of the NICEST messages and comments from you guys and I just wanna say I love u all, and appreciate all the support for this fic!!

Our walk went on for a short while before we got to the park. It was as nice as you would expect from a more high class neighborhood, well manicured lawns, botanical sculptures and flower beds lining the sidewalk. 

The lawns had just been watered, so the concrete was glistening wet in the moonlight. 

It was pretty romantic, to be honest. 

Zebruh and I held hands the whole walk, and we only let go when we found an unoccupied and dry park bench to sit at. 

“So,” I said, turning to lean leisurely against the backrest of the bench, “You wanted to talk and stuff right?” 

He nodded, “Y-yeah, uhm… hm…” 

“Hm?” 

“I’m just not sure what to talk about, I guess.” 

I smiled, “Ah.” 

We sat silently for a moment, and he spoke up again, “Lets talk about you. I don’t… really know all that much about you and I’d like to change that.” 

I laughed a little, “Alright, what do you wanna know?” 

He thought for a second, leaning his head back and looking up at the sky, “Hm…” 

“You’re pretty indecisive huh? Here,” I cleared my throat and mimicked his voice, “ ‘What’s your favorite colour Maynya?’ Oh, it’s blue, thanks for asking. ‘Wow that’s great, are you having fun tonight?’ Yeah! I am, it’s been nice, I hope we can hang out like this more.” 

Zebruh couldn’t help but chuckle at me mocking him, “Well, I’m glad you’re having a good time… and your favorite colour is blue huh? That have anything to do with me?”

There was a hint of tease to his voice. I could tell he was trying to flirt, and it was honestly almost cute.

I pshawed, and gently shoved his shoulder, “Nah, I like it because I saw a cool bug that was blue.” 

“So it is because of me!” he laughed at his joke, and I couldn’t help but laugh along with him.

When the giggling settled down, he shifted and relaxed a bit, obviously not thinking to hard about what he wanted to ask me anymore. 

I relaxed next to him, letting my back slide down the headrest of the bench a bit.

“So, what kind of stuff are you into?” 

“Stuff?”

“Yeah like… Movies, music, anything?” 

I had a feeling of déjà vu wash over me, but I shook it off and thought for a second. 

“Oh, well… I guess I like movies. I saw a good one about dragons n stuff a while ago.” 

“What kind of movies are you into? Other than ones with… dragons.” 

“Y'know, chick flicks like “Troll John Wick" or “The Shining".”

Zebruh gave me a weird look, “Those aren’t chick flicks but ok.” 

“You get the point,” I laughed, “I’m in to action and horror movies.” 

“Right, right,” he rolled his eyes with a smile, “So if you’re into horror and action, I can guess you like punk music, or metal?” 

I shook my head, “Nah, I like pop music and indie rock. Confusing, I know.” 

“Not really, it’s pretty fitting for you I think.” 

 

The night continued like this for a while, specifically until the sprinkler system turned on again.

We were both thoroughly soaked, so we decided it would be best to cut our hangout short.

He walked me back to my apartment, like he usually would, and we stopped at the door to my flat. I kicked off my shoes prematurely so I didn’t get gross sandal water tracked through my house.

“I had fun,” I said as I unlocked my door, “Thanks for taking me out Zeb.” 

He smiled at me, “Of course, maybe we can… hang out like this again, if you’d like.” 

“Y’know, I think I would. I’ll see you around Ze-" 

“Actually, Maynya…” he stopped me, and crossed his arms nervously over his chest, “Do you…think we chould go on a date next time?” 

I balked for a second.

“What?” 

His face was blushing bright blue, and his arms crossed tighter. I could see him practically shaking with nervousness.

“I didn’t… really get to talk to you at the park about what was on my mind, and I thought it’d be smart to do it now instead of later again, and I just…” 

He took a deep breath in, trying to compose himself. 

“Maynya, I really like you, and I appreciate all you’ve done for me, even though I used to be so shitty to you. Do you think we could maybe… be matesprites?” 

I felt my head swimming a bit with his question. It was a real toughie, since every other time he nearly asked the question he never could get around to it. And I knew that back then I’d say no, no doubt. 

But now, I didn’t know what to say. He really has changed, but a lot of the wounds were still fresh.

He took my lack of an answer with a breathy chuckle, “If… if I’m asking for more than you think I should, you can tell me. Just know that I’ll wait as long as it takes, and do whatever I can to make myself into someone….” He paused to collect his thoughts, as they were evidently racing, “Someone you’d be happy to date.”

"I..."

 

“I… don’t know.” 

“What?”

“I… I know you’re a good person, and I know you’re getting better- and you’ve been better- I just… don’t know yet.” 

“I…” he let himself register what I said, and took his time with it before saying anything again, “That’s ok. Until you do know, weather that’s a yes or a no, I’ll keep improving myself. Have a good rest of your night Maynya.” 

He smiled and waved as he walked off. 

“See ya around Maynya.” 

“See yah, Zeb.” I waved my hand to him and watched as he left. 

When I stepped into my apartment, I closed the door and leaned my back against it. Very slowly, I let myself slip down to the floor, with my hands covering the rising blush in my cheeks. 

 

Maybe I should have said yes.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading till the end, look forward to the next part in like, a week or something.


End file.
